College district to hire administrator over faculty protests

Nov. 22, 2013

Updated 3:59 p.m.

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North Orange County Community College District Chancellor Ned Doffoney says now is the right time to fill a vice chancellor position that has been vacant for the past three years. Faculty at Cypress and Fullerton community colleges are against the pending hire of this senior-level administrator. COURTESY PHOTO

North Orange County Community College District Chancellor Ned Doffoney says now is the right time to fill a vice chancellor position that has been vacant for the past three years. Faculty at Cypress and Fullerton community colleges are against the pending hire of this senior-level administrator. COURTESY PHOTO

By the numbers

The North Orange County Community College District encompasses two colleges and one continuing-education school.

Enrollment: 61,162

Employees: 2,552

College faculty: 1,496

Managers/executives: 103

Budget: $194 million

Payroll (excludes benefits): $122 million

Source: 2012-13 district data; total payroll from county records

ANAHEIM – For three years, the community college district that governs Cypress and Fullerton colleges has kept its top academic administrative job unfilled.

Faculty vocally opposed hiring a senior-level administrator during tough economic times, and district officials rearranged job responsibilities and hired consultants to pick up the slack.

But now the Anaheim-based North Orange County Community College District has decided it’s time to recruit a vice chancellor for educational services and technology.

And faculty members are furious.

Over the past two months, the faculty governing bodies of both Fullerton and Cypress colleges have passed near-unanimous resolutions opposing the pending hire.

“We don’t need more bureaucrats,” said Marcus Wilson, a Fullerton College business professor. “How can a bureaucrat that sits in an office in Anaheim help a student pass a class? That’s the frustration we all feel.”

The position is expected to cost about $300,000 annually, which includes the salary of one administrative aide.

North Orange County Chancellor Ned Doffoney said the position is essential to developing and executing the district’s long-term instructional planning.

The vice chancellor position will ensure innovation and best practices are shared consistently among the two community colleges and the district’s continuing-education school, Doffoney said.

“We understand that we get lots of advice from lots of people,” Doffoney said.

Moving forward now was “a judgment call,” he added.

North Orange County’s top academic office has been vacant since summer 2010, after the retirement of the district’s vice chancellor for instruction, Kathleen Hodge.

When faculty leaders learned the district was considering hiring an interim vice chancellor to replace Hodge, they staged a rally at the district’s headquarters, carrying signs that said “Stop paying lip service to student success” and “Let cuts be away from the classrooms.”

The chancellor backed down, saying in a statement that hiring someone “into such a charged atmosphere” would not be in the district’s best interest.

There was little movement on filling the position for three years.

During that time, Doffoney noted, the district hired an outside consultant at a cost of more than $400,000 to complete about a year’s worth of work on North Orange County’s master education plan.

If the vice chancellor position had been filled, the need for the consultant would have been “greatly mitigated,” Doffoney said.

Last month, the district’s governing board unanimously signed off on a job description for the position and approved hiring a recruiter to identify candidates.

District trustee Jeffrey Brown said that while the board is moving forward now, trustees remain vigilant about spending.

California voters didn’t write a blank check when they approved Proposition 30 to restore some funding to colleges, Brown said – and North Orange County officials aren’t treating it that way.

“We are extremely grateful that Prop. 30 did pass,” Brown said. “Because we now are a little bit more stable in our funding and outlook, now is the time to look at what we can do to be better in spending the money we have.”

Faculty leaders say they’re skeptical of the district’s claims.

Dale Craig, president of the labor union representing district faculty members, pointed out that each community college already has a vice president who oversees campus instruction.

“We’re going to feel fairly insulted they’re bringing in another person to do the job we’re doing on the campuses,” said Craig, a Fullerton College professor of business and computer information systems.

District officials said the new vice chancellor will be able to spearhead a number of technology-driven initiatives across the district, including expanding online learning offerings and installing new software programs that will help students more clearly chart a course through community college.

The new vice chancellor also will help ensure compliance with accreditation standards and better position the district to win grants, officials said.

Faculty say that while they’re ready for another fight, they may not win Round 2.

“We want to be careful we don’t get so caught up fighting for one thing that we no longer are serving students,” said Fullerton College chemistry professor Sam Foster, president of the Faculty Senate.

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